He's a barber by day. But at night, you'll often find Monty Weathers searching for the darkest sky he can find, with no light pollution from cities or the moon.

On June 15, his quest led the Tennessee amateur photographer to the Mark Twain National Forest, about 25 miles south of Eminence.

"I specifically sought that site out," Weathers recalled. "The International Dark-Sky Association has a light pollution map of the world. I was looking for the darkest place I could find within a five- or six-hour drive from my home. That place in the Mark Twain forest is the darkest spot east of the Kansas line."

He parked on the side of the road, aimed his tripod-mounted camera at the heavens and captured a breathtaking image of the Milky Way soaring above the trees. His photo was shared on the U.S. Forest Service's Facebook page.

The date — June 15 — was important.

"That's the date of the new moon, meaning there's no moon visible," he said. "There's too much light pollution from the moon to take a photograph of the Milky Way, so you aim for a new moon night."

The planet Mars glows red, lower left, beneath a spray of Milky Way stars. The image was captured in one of the darkest places in Missouri, a spot about 25 miles south of Eminence in the Mark Twain National Forest.(Photo: Submitted by Monty Weathers)

The Milky Way is a collection of up to 400 billion stars and is home to our own sun and its planets.

The next new moon will be Aug. 11, and it will come with a special opportunity to catch the Milky Way in the midst of a meteor shower.

The annual Perseid meteor shower lasts most of August, but peaks on Aug. 12 and 13. Meteor streaks will be easier to see and photograph because there will be no moon visible.

"Photographing the night sky is my escape from reality," said Tennessee barber and amateur photographer Monty Weathers. He captured stunning images of the Milky Way in the Mark Twain National Forest south of Eminence.(Photo: Submitted photo)

Asked if he was a professional photographer, Weathers chuckled.

"I'm just a guy, a barber," he said. "I've only been doing this photography for a year. I was using a Sony A6000 camera and a Rokinon 12-millimeter lens with a 30-second exposure."

He said the camera body cost $450 and the lens cost $300.

"It's actually very low end, compared to what some people use," he said. "The hardest part is that you have such a small time window — two days before and two days after the new moon, and it often comes down to whether there's clouds that night or not."

Weathers said his Milky Way images occasionally catch a plane or meteor overhead, which show up as white or colored streaks in the image.

What else can get in the way of a long exposure?

"Fireflies! Fireflies ruin a lot of pictures," he said.

The planet Mars glows red, lower left, beneath a spray of Milky Way stars. The image was captured in one of the darkest places in Missouri, a spot about 25 miles south of Eminence in the Mark Twain National Forest.(Photo: Submitted by Monty Weathers)

Weathers said he prints some of his best images and hangs them on the wall at his home. He also posts his photos on his Facebook page.

He has family living in the Ozarks and says Missouri is lucky to have some areas where light pollution hasn't yet masked the beauty of the stars.

"They say 80 percent of the U.S. population will never see the Milky Way because of light pollution," he said. "Photographing the night sky is my escape from reality."